ICE agents have reportedly claimed to be police officers to gain consent to enter a person’s home – a tactic that is viewed as unethical, but within the powers granted to the officers. Civil rights groups supported Kalra’s bill, looking to stymie the Trump administration’s promise to use any and all available tools to deport undocumented immigrants who have committed crimes. Many groups fear Trump will expand deportations to include all undocumented immigrants, their families and relatives.   read more

David Bunn has worked in the private sector, the state Legislature, the executive branch and academia. He has participated in village poultry health and extension projects in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana and Nepal since 2006. Bunn was a co-leader of the Global Livestock CRSP and USAID Flu School Program. He conducted avian flu workshops in eight African countries for health and agriculture ministry professionals.   read more

The first of two reports, based on data from NASA's two Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites, said 21 of the world's 37 largest aquifers were losing more water than gaining and 16 were in positive territory. The eight worst were classified as overstressed and another five were considered “extremely” or “highly stressed.” All 13 were losing water rapidly, but the eight worst weren’t replenishing any of the supply.   read more

The California Labor Commissioner ruled in a case that Uber owed driver Barbara Ann Berwick of San Francisco $4,152, mostly mileage money and toll costs, because the law says company employees get reimbursed for stuff like that. Uber lost the argument that the company was just an app developer and the drivers were independent contractors.   read more

The first half of the film shows workers torturing the chickens as they slam them into the shackles, punching them and pulling out feathers of live birds, seemingly for fun. The birds are often shackled improperly and the blade misses their heads, allowing them to complete the process, which ends in boiling, while still alive.   read more

The State Auditor issued a scathing report this week about the plight of Medi-Cal patients after passage of the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) greatly expanded their numbers the past two years. The audit found that California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) still can’t say how many doctors in the state accept Medi-Cal patients, despite requirements that insurance providers maintain adequate physician networks, and complaints from patients and their advocates that they have not.   read more

The settlement, which must still be approved by the Ninth Circuit Court, covers 2,300 California FedEx drivers and 363 from Oregon who worked between 2000 and 2007, according to the Courthouse News Service. The drivers had to dress in FedEx uniforms, meet FedEx grooming standards, and drive a truck (sometimes there own) festooned with the FedEx logo. Yet, FedEx called them contractors, not employees.   read more

Evans replaces Richard J. Lopes, 50, who abruptly announced his “retirement” as chairman last month. Lopes reportedly did not mention the ongoing scandal, which includes accusations against former gambling enforcement chief Robert E. Lytle, who worked with him during his 30 years at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). His announcement came two weeks after Executive Director Tina Littleton announced she would take a lower-level position at the end of May.   read more

The money was California's share of a $25-billion settlement reached in 2012 with the nation's five largest mortgage servicers for helping crash the economy and destroying people's lives. The $331 million was supposed to be spent on counseling, consumer fraud education and assistance for people trying to save their homes from foreclosure. Wronged property owners were to receive loan modifications and principal reductions to save their homes.   read more

A study by the University of California, Berkeley, says much of the money was spent on restoring staff positions that were not directly tied to instruction. State lawmakers had targeted the money at pupils most at risk of poor academic performance, a group that makes up 80% of LAUSD enrollments. But the report found “no coherent strategy for distributing dollars to schools serving the pupils that generated these new revenues.”   read more

The 31,000-square-foot Emerald Glen Recreation and Aquatic Complex is under construction and under fire for its inappropriateness in Year Four of the drought. It is expected to be completed in 2017. The center includes an 11-lane Olympic-size pool, two other pools, six water slides, and an amphitheatre that seats 2,000. The pools would hold 480,000 gallons of water, about 5% of the water used by city residents in an average day.   read more

The state telegraphed it was coming for months, but on Friday the State Water Resources Control Board sent out notices to 114 owners holding 276 senior rights that access to flowing water in the Sacramento River basin, the San Joaquin River basin and Delta is curtailed until further notice. The San Jose Mercury News said they use 1.2 million acre feet of water a year, around twice what Los Angeles residents use.   read more

The feds and Orange County prosecutors are investigating around 600 cases dating back to 2006, according to the Register. The cases are misdemeanor and traffic offenses. Nearly all of them appear to involve Latino defendants accused of driving under the influence (DUI) or driving without a license. Early betting is that a single rogue clerk is the perpetrator. That would indicate an employee who is crazy, incompetent or―again, an early frontrunner―corrupt.   read more

“Texas was in a long period of drought until Governor Perry signed the fetal pain bill. It rained that night,” Assemblywoman Shannon Grove, Bible in hand, told attendees at the soirée put on by the California affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee. “Now God has His hold on California.” She was referring to Texas legislation that put a 20-week pregnancy limit on abortions.   read more

Unnamed L.A. officials cited a new report by the city’s Department of Water and Power (DWP) that electricity could be obtained cheaper from other sources, but also expressed concerns about bighorn sheep, desert tortoises and the wisdom of building a disruptive solar plant just one mile from the Mojave National Preserve.   read more

The agreement ends two lawsuits, brought in 2009 and 2012, over the denial of access to water, shade and basic amenities in the brutal summer heat of the Central Valley. The UFW says 28 people died from the heat between 2005 and 2013, while the state only cops to 17, according to Associated Press. The union has accused Cal-OSHA of systematically ignoring the plight of workers and not conducting inspections in 55 of 78 officially-filed complaints in 2011 alone.   read more

The Walmart manuals require that drivers must not drive within 10 hours of a previous stint. The compensation for that mandatory layover is $42, or $4.20 an hour. The drivers said it was Walmart’s way of having a very cheap security guard on site with the truck. Walmart argued that the workers weren’t working during those 10 hours, but the judge cited California code that defined hours worked as “the time during which an employee is subject to the control of an employer."   read more